Band reinforcing means for garments



Jan. 21, 1969 M. FRoEHLlcl-l, .1R

BAND REINFORCING MEANS FOR GARMENTS sheet @f2 Filed Nov. 16, 1966 H w a .oa f/f/ f J7/V a a.

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BY y @,@wM/A/ M Jan. 21, 1969 M. FRoEHLlcl-l, JR 3,422,461

BAND REINFORCING MEANS FOR GARMENTS Filed Nov; 1e, 196e sheet Z of 2 INVENTOR Man/.ene Eene my, .ze

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ATTCRNEYS United States Patent O 3,422,461 BAND REINFORCING MEANS FOR GARMENTS Monroe Froehlich, Jr., South Salem, N.Y., assignor to DHJ Industries, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York 'Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 523,155, Jan. 26, 1966. This application Nov. 16, 1966, Ser. No. 604,098 U.S. Cl. 2-236 1 Claim Int. Cl. A41d 27/00 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A plurality of stitfening members in a band zone which are disposed at an angle with the horizontal and which are permanently attached to the garment or a band attached to the garment.

This application is a continuation-impart of my prior copending application for U. S. Letters Patent entitled Waistband Reinforcing Means which was tiled J an. 26, 1966 and which bears Ser. No. 523,155, now abandoned.

This invention relates to a band reinforcing means which can be applied to garments such as slacks, pants, trousers, shorts, skirts, brassieres, panty girdles and other garments, and which when so applied will prevent a permanent distortion or outward flaring of the parts of the garment adjacent the band thus assuring that the zone of the band extends properly in varying engagement with the adjacent surface of the wearers body.

In yorder to provide a neat appearance, the band of such garments should rmly embrace the wearer. 'Portions `of garments which provide a band about a wearer or complete a circle about a portion of a wearers body have a tendency to roll over and outwardly and become unsightly. Numerous attempts have been made to prevent this unsightly roll over, such as supplying additional bulk at the band zone or providing extremely stiff reinforcing members. Neither of these solutions to the problem is satisfactory since each exhibits a high degree of discomfort to the wearer without really preventing an unsightly appearance. As a matter of fact, the one method which relies Iupon bulk presents an unsightly band zone due to the bulk of the garment at that zone. Where extremely stiff preformed configurations are relied upon an artificial appearance results.

It is the principal object of this invention to provide a band reinforcing means which will prevent unsightly roll over in garments Without creating artiiicial stiiness or an appearance of unusual bulk.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a band reinforcing means which can be used without discomfort to the wearer.

It is still a further object of the invention to provide a band reinforcing means which can be applied to the selected zone of a garment in a variety of Ways. Thus the invention disclosed herein lends itself to utilization by a variety of persons employing a variety of manufacturing and merchandising methods.

It is still a further object of the invention to provide a structure which may readily be produced and incorporated in a garment with a minimum of effort and expense.

A band reinforcing means and the method of using the same is ldescribed herein with reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of the waist portion of a garment with the lband reinforcing means incorporated therein;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged transverse sectional view taken ice along the line 2 2 in the direction of the arrows as indicated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 and in the direction of the arrows as indicated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a segmentary view of the band reinforcing means shown in FIG. 1 removed from the garment;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a reinforcing strip used in the subject invention;

FIG. 6 is a segmentary view similar to FIG. 4 illus` trating an alternate embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a front view of a brassiere with the band reinforcing means incorporated therein;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line 8 8 and in the direction of the arrows indicated in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a front view of a panty girdle with the band reinforcing means incorporated therein; and

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along the line 10-10 and in the direction of the arrows indicated in FIG. 9.

The inventive concept disclosed herein resides in the provision of a plurality of stiffening members in a band or at a `band zone which are disposed either at an angle with the horizontal or vertical. The resistance to roll over provided by the vertical or semi-vertical orientation is sufficiently great to allow spacing between stays so that the roll over preventing means do not impede the free flow of air nor inhibit the stretch characteristics of the band fabrics or the garment itself. This is especially important when bias cut fabrics are used in the band. The same useful result will occur with elasticized bands.

Referring primarily to FIG. l, the numeral 10` indicates the body of an ether garment such as a pair of slacks. These are provided with a waistband portion 12. The garment is provided with a fly which in applied position of the garment is maintained closed by a sec-uring element such as a Ibutton 16 or in any other desired manner. When so closed the waistband portion will, in the usual manner, be constricted a-round the wearer.

A composite stiifening strip 18 composed of bands 20 and 22 and a plurality of iiat elongated stitfening mem- -bers 24 disposed angularly to the longitudinal axis of the band is incorporated within waistband portion 12. A lining strip 26 is applied to the inner face of stiifening strip 18 with the upper and lower edges of the material providing the waistband portion being turned inwardly as at 28 adjacent inwardly turned portions of the lining strip as at 30 to enclose the stiifening strip.

Bands 20 and 22 serve the purpose of supporting the plurality of elongated stiifening members 24. In the example shown in the figures `band 22 is formed of canvas `or buckram. The band 20 which is referred as a curtain is formed of exible cloth and each of the stiifening members 24 is formed of a polyester plastic material or other suitable stiif material.

Since the stiening members are disposed angularly to the longitudinal axis of the bands 20 and 22, the members 24 form an angle with the horizontal when the band is in position as shown in FIG. 1. The undesirable roll over occurs about a horizontal axis so that this position of stiffening member provides a vertical component of for-ce which tends to resist the undesirable roll over. Since the stiifening members are spaced each from the adjacent members there is free ow of air through the band and this free flow of air is substantially unaffected by the presence of the stiifening members 24 in View of the fact that the sum of stiifening members in a single band represents a small percentage of the band itself.

Also, as heretofore explained, the stretch characteristics of the material at the band zone is not impeded.

Each of the stiifening members 24 as shown in the figures by way of example is secured to member 22 by stitching 32 and in the present embodiment parallel longitudinal slots 34 are provided in the stiffening members to enable the member to be fastened by means of a stitching machine. Stiening members without slots 34 or of other configuration can be utilized within the concept of this invention and alternate methods of attachment such as by tacking machines or high frequency fusing machines can be employed.

The conguration of the stiffening members can be altered to satisfy the varying requirements of different types of garments. Bands 20 and 22 are secured to one another by a row of stitching 36 and as shown in FIG. 2 stitching 38 secures lining 26 to band 12,

It is significant to note that the main resistance to roll over is provided by the polyester stiiening members 24 and not band 20 or 22. These bands are provided as a convenient means of supporting the stiffening members in desired position. Hence any other suitable means can be employed for this purpose and if convenient the stilening members can be applied directly to the band 12 or lining 26. Also, it should be noted that the utilization of a band 12 and lining 26 of the type disclosed herein is not necessary for the practice of the invention. The particular band and lining shown in the drawings is by way of illustration only.

The number of stiifening members used and the angle that each stiffening member makes with the horizontal is a matter of choice and depends upon the particular application. The stifening members must be spaced at a sufficient distance to allow for free ow of air, however, they must be sufficiently close and there must be enough of them to provide the necessary resistance to roll over.

In FIG. 6 an alternate embodiment of the invention is shown in which a stiffening strip 40 formed of bands 42 and 44 joined by stitching 46 support stilr'ening member 48 which is attached thereto by means of stitching 50. The stilfening member in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 is a vertical and illustrates a permissible form of the invention. As discussed above, the elongated stiifening member should make an angle with the longitudinal axis of the band to which it is applied or the horizontal and a 90 angle such as that shown in FIG. 6 is permissible.

It should also be borne in mind that the particular means illustrated for attaching the stiffening member 24 or 48 to its supporting surface as by stitching through parallel slots is a showing of a particular embodiment and other methods of attaching the -stiffening member to its supporting surface can be utilized as heretofore considered.

In FIG. 7 a brassiere is shown consisting of wing sections 52 and 54, cups 56 and 58, straps 60 and 62, undercup area 64, waistband 66 and fastening means 68.

The waistband 66 which is shown in cross-section in FIG. 8 has a band reinforcing means 70 consisting of strip 72, to one side of which a plurality of stifening members 74 have been attached, which has been folded over and sewn into position by means of stitching 76.

The stiffening members 74 can be secured to strip 72 by any of the means previously described yor by any suitable means. Also strip 72 can be formed of any suitable material and can be elastic, if desired.

In FIG. 9 a panty girdle is shown and wherein the invention is utilized at waistband 78 and at each of the leg bands 80 and 82. A plurality of stiffening members 84 are provided in the leg bands and the waistband in accordance with the invention and a cross-section of leg band 80 is shown in FIG. 10. The leg band in FIG. 10 is prevented from roll over by strip 86 to which members 84 are secured. The strip is attached to leg band 80 by means of stitching 88.

Although the waistband 78 is not shown in cross-section, the reinforcing means can be that shown in FIG. 8 or that shown in FIG. 10 or it can consist of a plurality of stilening members 84 secured directly to the Waistband portion of the panty girdle.

As discussed with respect to the previous embodiments of the invention, the particular means for attaching the stiffening members to its supporting surface can be varied as can the specific supporting surface.

Thus, among others, the several objects of the invention, as specifically aforenoted, are achieved. Obviously, numerous changes in construction and rearrangement of parts might be resorted to Without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the claims.

I claim:

1. A rein-forcing band for a `garment adapted to encircle a portion of a wearers body, said 'band including an outer band portion, an inner lining secured to said band portion and forming `a. sleeve therewith, and an elongated composite stiffening strip secured within said sleeve, said composite stiening strip comprising an elongated strip of stiffening material, an elongated strip lof flexible fabric material secured thereto, a plurality of spaced elongated stiffening members positioned between said elongated strips, and means securing said stiifening members to said strip of stilfening material at a substantial angle with respect to both the horizontal and longitudinal axes of said stiifening strip.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 986,895 3/1911 Blackwell 2-260 1,432,477 10/ 1922 Roth. 2,301,047 11/1942 Hendley 2-255 2,692,389 10/1954 Lamkin et al. 2-260 3,113,322 12/1963 Bohm 2-257 3,298,036 1/1967 Chalfin 2-337 FOREIGN PATENTS 19,176 1913 Great Britain.

H. HAMPTON HUNTER, Primary Examiner.

Us. C1. X.R. 

